As the first person to undergo sexual-reassignment surgery,
Danish artist Lili Elbe (played here by Eddie Redmayne) is a transgender
pioneer, but while Tom Hooper's Oscar-baity biopic of
Elbe's life is well-intentioned and pretty to look at, it adds up to little
else. As portrayed in "The Danish Girl," Lili's transition seems to spring
forth from a sudden fascination with dresses and makeup, and the focus on the
performative aspects of gender can't help but feel like a reductive
representation of what being transgender truly means. Sure, lipstick and
stockings may play a part, but these elements come at the expense of Hooper
even attempting to delve into Lili's internal struggle. When Lili mimics the
studied movements of a woman performing in a peep show, it's an exaggerated
femininity far removed from any woman's real behavior, and it's symptomatic of
the film's skin deep portrayal of Lili's experience.

Lucinda Coxon's script is more effective at exploring the strain
Lili's transition puts on her marriage to fellow painter Gerda Wegener (Alicia
Vikander). Vikander is effortlessly empathetic as Wegener provides selfless
support, despite knowing that it means losing her husband forever, and Redmayne's
overly mannered performance pales in comparison. But cisgender actors in
transgender roles often get Oscar's attention, and Redmayne is likely to do the
same. The true details of the couple's lives are infinitely more complicated,
though all the kinks have been ironed out in the name of making their story
accessible to as broad an audience as possible; there's a safe,
prestige-picture tastefulness to its telling. As an introduction to what the
transgender transitional process entails (which it assuredly will be for many
in the audience) the film is perfectly serviceable, but there's a missed
opportunity to have created something much more revolutionary.